Talent is not limited to only one country or even a select
group of countries. It’s found everywhere. We have seen people rise out of
obscurity from different parts of the world.
Graham Mackay was not born in the U.S. or China but has left
his own mark in the world stage. Born in South Africa, he was not the founder,
nor the son of a founder of any company. He joined a company as an employee and
through his skills and talent transformed it into one of the largest beer companies
in the world.
Mackay
joined the South African Breweries Limited in 1978, and rose through the
ranks holding key senior positions in the group. Aside from brewing beer the group was also
into other businesses including hotels and something as unique as having a
subsidiary making windscreens.
Mackay was appointed Group Managing Director in 1997 and
Chief Executive of South African Breweries (SAB) plc when it was listed in the
London Stock Exchange in 1999. While the company came from a country that faced
a host of problems notably apartheid, it did not stop it from doing business in
many parts of Africa and the rest of the globe.
Mackay orchestrated the transformation
of the company into the number two beer maker in the world. He led a number of
successful acquisitions of other companies including resorting to aggressive
takeovers. Mackay also focused the company on selling beer, non-core businesses
like the hotels and windscreen company were sold off.
Among the acquisitions
that took place include the Czech lager group Pilsner Urqell, Peroni of Italy,
Bavaria of Columbia and Dutch group Grolsch. The company became SABMiller with
SAB buying 100% of Miller Brewery Company (the second largest brewer in the
U.S. by volume) in 2002. This move made
SABMiller the second largest volume brewer in the world.
The iconic Foster beer company of Australia has also been
acquired by SABMiller, further solidifying the company’s global presence. In his early 60s, there has been some talk of
Mackay’s retirement. Whenever that will be he not only left his mark in the
local South African beer market, but also in the rest world.
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